Exactly 1 Year Ago

Exactly 1 year ago I made my last post here. I almost gave up on this blog for many reasons: I stopped gardening,  I canceled my CSA memberships and I stopped living as green as I use to because other things took priority over my life, dealing with a divorce, work, sad but strong kids, a financial crisis... the list goes on. You want to know the irony of it all?

It rained a lot this summer (compared to last year), though still a very hot dry august and my garden gave fruit to many things including: cantaloupe from the compost bin (its a huge plant too) and butter nut squash from last year seeds that harvested and grew themselves. The mint took over half of the garden in the backyard and the rosemary in my front yard grew so wild I had to trim it at least once a month and give some away. Last month I found myself clipping a lot of my oregano, my rosemary and my mint and placing it in small plastic container I recycled as small vases and then giving them to friends and family who shared with me in other ways. I still have so much of this stuff to give too.

All this is growing amongst either dry soil or weeds and tall grass. If it wasn't for my neighbor mowing my lawn...the HOA would be after me now. However, the birds and the butterflies love these weeds and tall grass so I keep it long in the back yard longer.

I'm enjoying cooking again too. I cook so much with the rosemary and oregano I have to look up new recipes to experiment with the flavors. I make wonderful tea with the mint.

A very good friend of mine, I made over this very difficult year, also introduced me to a new type of basil and I love it. She gave me several clippings from her over grown garden and I have experimented with a number of new recipes  using it. In addition she gave me seeds of it to grow some of my own.

On a sad note last years drought or the one before that (can't recall) killed 3 of my pine trees in the back yard and two of my bushes. This year they became so dangerous to leave standing, especially in Junes crazy rains, that I had to get them cut down. It cost me a fortune to have them cut down, but at least my kids and I are now safe in out home. However, my lime tree has exploded with leaves and has grown very tall. I think by this year or next year it will bare limes. My other plants: roses, bulbs, cannas, lilies etc., are doing well too.

When it is in the budget I plan to plant more fruit trees in the back. I could grow them from seed as I did my lime tree, but it would take years before I saw any fruit. When the weather cools a bit more and the mosquitos are not on rampage I may venture out again and see what I can give back to my garden.

I hope this time I can give some of my time to something that has given to me so much during such a hard time.